ATLANTA – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Initiative for Congregational Life will sponsor its fifth annual "True Survivor" conference for Christian educators March 7-9 at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. The conference will provide continuing education and fellowship for Christian educators, age group ministers and church education staff.

Conference leaders Diana Garland, Dave Odom and Bo Prosser will focus on the theme, "Missional Leadership: The Island of Intentionality." Garland, Baylor University professor and school of social work chair, will teach about the missional family as a place for faith development. Odom, the Center for Congregational Health president, will teach about co-leadership for change and the missional journey.

Morning teaching points will be discussed at afternoon talk-back sessions facilitated by Prosser, the Fellowship’s coordinator for congregational life. The conference is an opportunity for "good scholarship, wonderful fellowship, sharing ideas and learning from one another," Prosser said. Past conferences have drawn between 50 and 75 Christian educators.

The Jack Naish Distinguished Educator Award recognizing excellence in Christian education will be presented during the conference. Former recipients are the late Finley Edge, a former Christian education professor at Southern Seminary; Terry Hamrick, the Fellowship’s coordinator for leadership development; Prissy Tunnell, minister of faith development at First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga.; and Michael McCullar, executive pastor at Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Ga.

The conference costs $50, and more information is available by contacting Toni Draper at (800) 352-8741 or tdraper@thefellowship.info.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.